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It's Official: Elon Musk Will Start Digging a Tunnel Under Los Angeles

Following meeting with President Trump.

More boring news from Elon Musk today. The SpaceX CEO's recently-revealed plan to dig a tunnel under Los Angeles to ease traffic congestion has apparently been given the go ahead, according to Musk himself, who tweeted this morning, "Exciting progress on the tunnel front. Plan to start digging in a month or so."

Exciting progress on the tunnel front. Plan to start digging in a month or so.

Elon MuskJanuary 25, 2017

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Elon MuskJanuary 25, 2017

Not one to hang around, it seems. We only learned of Musk's tunnelling ambitions last December when the mogul mused about LA's traffic problems on Twitter.

"It shall be called 'The Boring Company'," he wrote. "Borings, it's what we do."

But just over a month later, following a high profile meeting with Trump, Musk has confirmed work on a tunnel, which will be carved out by Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs), presumably beginning next month across the road from SpaceX's LA office in Crenshaw, near the 105 Freeway, "5 mins from LAX".

Musk has had a vocal interest in tunnels for some time now, stating in a March 2015 interview with scientist Neil DeGrasse Tyson that more car tunnels would "alleviate congestion completely" and negate the need for flying cars.

Motherboard has contacted SpaceX and Tesla by email to get more information about the project, but has yet to receive a response.

The announcement comes two days after Musk, along with several other business leaders including Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, met with President Trump at the White House to discuss manufacturing issues.

Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken about infrastructure, and even specifically mentioned tunnels in his inauguration speech. "We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation," he declared last Friday.

It's unclear if Musk and Trump have spoken about The Boring Company in any seriousness. But with Trump's $1 trillion infrastructure plan appearing to rely heavily on private investment, it would seem Musk is the perfect guy for the job to shake up America's roads with tunnels.

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